Sage grouse have prospered on the thin, sandy soils of the Great Basin for millennia. The presettlement range (prior to 1800) of the largest gamebird in North America was vast. There were an estimated 15 million birds in the “sagebrush sea” before European intrusion. Today, biologists believe the breeding population cycles between 200,000 and 500,000. Adding optimism for recovery, there are dozens of entities enthusiastically cooperating to reduce persistent threats facing the sagebrush ecosystem. The Sage Grouse Initiative is leading the charge by forging viable partnerships to sustain stewardship of appropriate acres, all to save this iconic creature. 

These distinctive birds evolved in high-desert steppe environs dominated by sagebrush. However, their uniqueness is a blessing and a curse. They are an obligate species that depend on sagebrush and associated native forbs, grasses, and insects to survive. In winter, nearly 100 percent of their diet consists of leaves and seeds from this aromatic, shrubby plant. They require expansive, undisturbed tracts of habitat to establish small, circular breeding grounds or “leks.” Radio-telemetry studies have shown birds travel distances of up to 15 miles to participate in festivities on just one lek. 

No eloquent, flowing prose could sufficiently portray the bird’s promiscuous mating rituals. A bucket list experience would be to watch the pageantry by secretly hiding near a lek, but the curious can still view spectacular videos on YouTube. During the territorial bickering displays in March and April, hens will eventually pick one favorite beau. Multiple females will mate with a dominant male, leaving other roosters on the sidelines, their frustrated courtship endeavors thwarted. After breeding, hens manage all parental duties from nest building to caring for the chicks, which might be glimpsed under the hen’s protective wings, from May to July. 

Unfortunately, sage grouse are declining in many landscapes. Diminishing species dynamics have reached levels that warrant a position on the threatened or endangered list by definitions in the Endangered Species Act. In fact, their geographic range has receded by 50 percent, and the estimated numbers have declined by more than 90 percent, with no evident, simple remedies to curb these trends. Captive breeding efforts have been unsuccessful. They are listed as “endangered” in Canada. 

The dilemma now faced can partially be attributed to “shifting baseline syndrome.” This syndrome is defined as a type of amnesia, whereby succeeding human generations forget past biological conditions. In this case, the knowledge and memory of abundance and geographical distribution of sage grouse, essentially, became extinct.

The alarm bell was sounded in 1916 when William Hornaday, director of the New York Zoological Park (now the Bronx Zoo), wrote Save the Sage Grouse from Extinction. In 1886 he traveled to Montana to collect bison specimens from the last remaining wild herd for the United States National Museum. In Custer County, he discovered thousands of sage grouse and shot “about two dozen.” By the turn of the century there were only remnant populations in the area. He attributed this decrease to the “juggernaut of slaughter” (automobiles expanding access) combined with the invention of pump-action and autoloading shotguns, seven-month-long seasons, and bag limits of up to 25 birds. Enforcement of those regulations by game wardens were lax, at best. 

Although Hornaday had sound reasoning, hunting was not the main threat to sage grouse. What he did not consider was the ongoing impacts of human settlement and habitat loss. Early on, railroads spawned new towns, highways, dry-land cultivation, and unfettered grazing. Soon “war” was declared on sagebrush, abetted by state and federal governments. Burning, plowing, and herbicides were deployed to rid the countryside of the “useless” plant. Next came active fire suppression, which hindered regeneration of the arid prairies. These devastating practices allowed for the intrusion of perennial woody plants and invasive species, such as cheatgrass, that negatively impacted survival of sage grouse.